No Paint Diamond Wall

I promise this is the last time I’ll show you this photo..at least for a long time because it doesn’t look quite like this anymore.

After two and one half hours and about $25 worth of duct tape we have a sassy walled room.

I wish I could say I had this grand idea to put tape on my walls from the beginning but what happened was more of a dare. Scotch Colors and Patterns Duct Tape challenged me to create a project and I tried four different ideas (a chair? a lampshade? planters? a vine?) until I was happy with the results. I LOVED this challenge it goes right with my whole Lovely Limitations Theory–limit what I can use, and I’ll be more creative (as long as I have time to think about it).

I wanted to come up with a project that looked good enough for people to actually want to do, was easy, and that the duct tape was a short cut, not whatever the opposite of short cut is (long cut?).

I also wish I could say that I was patient to a fault but that role in our family is played by my husband. And this project requires about an hour of steadfast patience. This man has a lifetime supply. I pretty much laid on the bed and talked incessantly while he worked.

But, I did let him take breaks.

I had this idea lingering in my head for a few years. I’ve watched people on blogs tape off stripes in a room so they could paint. It seemed painstakingly slow (remember, I have no patience for projects). And one project I remember the tape was nearly the same color as the paint and part of me thought it was sad that they couldn’t just leave the tape up and not paint. Dear Scotch Colors and Patterns Duct Tape, please consider creating 6 and 12 inch wide rolls of tape in a matte finish so I can finally have stripes on my walls.

We only did the main wall in the room. I’m usually not a fan of accent or “show off walls” but it works in here.

laser level or plumb line (we made our own with a string and something heavy tied to it)

patience

Before we started I made a mock-up of how big I wanted the diamonds to be. Diamonds look their best when they are twice as high as they are wide. I figured a 30 inch tall diamond would be nice so, from the top center of the wall I made a mark on the wall (mark 1) measured down 30 inches and made a mark (mark 2). Then I measured down 15 inches into the center of where the diamond would be (halfway) and then 7.5 inches over to the right (mark 3) and 7.5 inches over to the left (mark 4). I was left with 4 marks on the wall that marked the points of the diamond.

I slapped some tape up just to get a feel for the size and yep, I liked it so I took it down and used those marks as our starting point. From there, we measured and marked 15 inches over and 30 inches up across the entire wall. And by “we” I mean my husband.

It’s been a month since we first put the tape up. Because the decorative duct tape isn’t as sticky and intense as the silver, heavy duty duct tape, when you peel it off, there isn’t any damage to the walls so far, just some discoloration–like when you remove vinyl lettering. I’m willing to prime and paint the wall in the future –something anyone would need to do when they are done looking at the diamonds, but, the tape saved us a lot of work on the front end. It would have taken a lot more time to tape off all the diamonds and paint them.

Special thanks to Scotch Duct Tape for sponsoring this post and for their challenge to create a project using tape from their new Colors and Patterns Line a new brand that helps you find your style that sticks–I LOVE a good challenge, wish every company would do things like this!

Two years after this post, we moved out of this house (it was a rental) and I took an afternoon to peel off the tape (it came right off but did leave some sticky reside or dark spots in some places. Then I did a quick sand and repainted the wall. All in all, it was about 2.5 hours of work–WELL worth it for two years of enjoying this wall treatment! I do think it helped that this wall had a few coats of paint on it before the tape, if you are taping a brand new house with one thin layer of paint on the walls, when you go to remove the tape, it could peel off more than the top layer of paint.

This is lovely – not just the diamond wall – but the whole room. I love your idea of leaving the tape up – it reminds me of the first time I ever saw that blue painters tape being used. It was in a magazine – and I thought how pretty the whole room looked with that blue edging everywhere (around the windows, door frame, ceiling….) then when I turned the page there was a picture of them peeling off the “edging”!!!

I did this over the weekend. My wall was already a simular grey color, so already had that done!. But did the stripes. Yes, I knocked off your idea. But it was too fab to pass up. It looks amazing on the wall.

So I used the white “Scotch Colors” duct tape and tried this on my wall and while my wall looks amazing in pictures, it looks really ghetto in person. The white duct tape is not smooth and matte so it’s very obvious that all you have is crinkly tape plastered on your walls. I really do not recommend anyone do this. I’m going to end up painting my walls, but hey, at least I have the pattern already in place.

I started working on this last night for our nursery. It looks great so far – I was able to make the tape smoothe unlike the previous poster. I laid it out on my computer first to get the exact dimensions. It takes a lot of patience but it is worth it. The tape is forgiving so you can peel it off and redo to get it straight without loss of sticky or ruining your walls. I used the white duct tape from Home Depot. I wish it made thinner lines. Sadly, four lines in and the smell of the duct tape is terrible which means I won’t continue with it. I am going to try washi tape or gaffers tape instead. I don’t want that chemical smell in our nursery.

This has nothing to do with the wall. I want to know where you purchased your side tables? The ones you are using as nightstands? I have been searching everywhere and I cannot seem to find them. Thank you

I just have to tell you, that even though I’m a designer myself, you have been a huge inspiration for me in my own journey to be happy with my home. I’m always so busy doing this for other people, I mentally push my own aside. I recently did a little real estate research to see what other homes were on the market in my area (because I do that about every 6 months..wondering if there’s something better out there), and this house popped up! As I was going through the photos, I got so excited, because I was getting all sorts of ideas for myself….and suddenly stopped looking at other homes! I then started looking at inspirations online, and your bedroom photo kept popping up, because I have the same color scheme (it was clearly fate). I think it is FABULOUS that you used that tape, because I was dreading trying to tape all of those lines off in order to paint!! I love to see someone else take a thrifty approach to design. I grew up with that way of thinking and have a house full of it. Thank you for opening the door for me!! Best of luck with the new home!!

Wow! It actually looks super chic I love it and the effort you put it to totally pays off. Watching your video was fun and your little dance half way thru :) definitely will be trying this on a smaller surface :)

I just saw your wall in House Beautiful today at the dentist. I had to come and find this post because I new I recognized it! The missed the pint about the duct tape but it looked great in the pictures.

Melissa, I’ve done this to a wall in my bedroom, and I would not suggest it, if you’re in an apartment, bc it will leave a residue after it’s been on for a while (if it doesn’t rip the paint off in places). I found that the white tape is extra sticky for some reason. Hope that helps you!

Also, I am having a hard time finding what I think is the duck tape you used. I cannot imagine that the tape is wide like the painter’s tape. Is it scotch white washi tape, or just duct tape? Where did you buy it? Any direction will help.

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Your bedroom is absolutely exquisite! Using the tape to make the diamond design is a fantabulous idea! It’s so much easier than painting the design. You gave many the idea of checking out the “Speciality” tapes for color and design before painting and possibly repainting to get that certain “look”. You two have done a superb job in your master bedroom. The colors you chose make the room comforting, peaceful, and a relaxing retreat from even the most hectic of days. It is lovely and elegant, but at the same time it is inviting enough that you aren’t afraid of using the room! Thank you for sharing.

Dear Nester, I have searched your site looking for the wall color. All I’ve found was the post where you painted your wall with Sherwin Williams Peppercorn. I actually have that color but mine is literally black. That doesn’t appear to be the color of your wall behind the tape. Can you please clarify that for me? I know your post says you have a link for paint colors but I can’t find that link either?? Maybe it’s because I’m using the mobile site. Any way, please help me with the wall color. Thanks so much!

Ariane- did you guys use any sort of tool to smooth it out when you applied the tape? I did this same thing in my last house and treated it like wallpaper, making sure all bubbles were out and that the tape was on really well. I never had a single piece peel off and it was up for 5+ years.

Yes, we did and it still came down. We used 3M White Duck Tape instead of Scotch brand as we could not find it. Not sure if this was what affected it maybe? In the meantime, today my husband painted over the entire wall with Valspar clear coat paint protectant, so hopefully this will keep it up. We figured it will act like clear nail polish does on freshly painted nails.

Could have been the brand. I have found that duct tape isn’t as sticky as it used to be. It could be the finish on your walls, too. I’m sure the clear coat will do the trick, though!! That’s a great idea! Good luck!!